


Prince Atem and the Temple of Doom

by Touzoku_ouBakura (TouzokuouBakura)



Category: Yugioh, yugioh duel monsters
Genre: Childhood Friends, Gen, Gen Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-16
Updated: 2015-10-16
Packaged: 2018-04-26 14:08:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5007697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TouzokuouBakura/pseuds/Touzoku_ouBakura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Atem and Bakura, both thirteen at the time, find themselves trapped in a ruined temple...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prince Atem and the Temple of Doom

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mefeira](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mefeira/gifts).



The small young prince was out for a visit to a neighboring town. The slightly taller young thief was on a raid. Neither knew the other was on opposite ends of the temple when the bandits attacked.  
They swarmed in, leaving a trail of blood in their wake. Everyone took shelter, when the lamps went out and the two were trapped in an aclove with a statue of Horus, each clinging to one leg of the statue, when the temple went down around them, the statue shielding the roof above from caving in on them.

"DAD!" the young prince, Atem, screamed out in desperation, hoping someone could hear him. "GUARDS! HELP!"

"Shut up," the young thief snapped irritably. "You'll alert the bandits to our location. Do you want to get killed?!"

"..." Atem sighed. "No. I guess we wait for someone to find us."

In the dark it was hard for Atem to discern whom the other was, with only a tiny sliver of light playing across the top of the statue of Horus. It was enough to see shapes, not details.  
"Good luck," the thief answered. "Most likely we'll die here."

Atem was only thirteen and started to cry. His fourteenth birthday was in a few days. He'd never see Mahaad or Mana or Dad or Shada or Kalim or anyone again.

The young thief climbed over the wreckage and took the prince in his arms. "Sssshhh. You should be aware life is temporary anyway. Stop crying. With luck, someone will find us."

Outside, the guards and royal priests were trying to find a way in to the temple to save the prince.  
But the two kids inside did not know that.

The young thief sat down, cradling the prince in his arms. "Well.... If you think you are going to die... Tell me some stories. You know, just to pass the time and have someone to share things with before we go."

Atem sniffed. "I .... I don't even know who you are.... But alright."  
The thief grinned, slightly, in the darkness. "And I will tell you some stories of my own."

Atem cuddled into the slightly larger boy, sniffing and beginning to calm down. Outside, they had began clearing away the temple rubble, but neither knew that.

Atem started telling his first story. "When I was three, my best friend Mahaad took me to see the real Nile for the first time. He told me Pharaohs did unmentionables to the Nile, and I wondered why and giggled. He told me I'd be Pharaoh one day, and would have to do the Nile, which I thought was a dance." He smiled a bit.

Bakura started telling his story. "When I was six, I was adopted into a small household. The household was related to my village, and taught me my village's trade. When I was seven, they taught me how to solve puzzles, so I ran off into a tomb and tried to solve all the traps and got stuck. They had to rescue me." He smoothed the Prince's hair.

Atem started telling his final story. "Well, when I was ten, I snuck into the royal baths and saw everyone naked including Dad. I never got caught."

Bakura laughed. "Rascal. When I was ten, I took a trip down the Nile to Kush, and came back with such a sunburn I had to be in shade for a week!"

 

Suddenly the stones surrounding them.... Moved. They shrank back.

The royal guards took some time moving the stones, but soon daylight shone on the two boys again. Bakura was gripping Atem tightly.

"Prince!" The young priest Kalim said. "Who is this- why are you- get away from him, street rat!" Kalim knocked Bakura roughly away, picking up the teeny prince and clucking over his wounds.

Bakura, meanwhile, snarled. This boy who he had almost made friends with was Pharaoh's spawn. And he had been physically assaulted by one of the royals.

Atem stared at the white haired boy. "He's nice, don't do that! Can he come home with us?"

Bakura looked up at Atem, Kalim, and the guards. Home? Royal home? Home? Home? Against his will and his grudge, his heart skipped a beat.

"No way," Kalim spat brusquely. "No spawn of the street allowed in the palace." He carried Atem off, Atem all the while reaching back towards Bakura.

Bakura sat down in the open ruins of the temple.

Home, family, love, friends.... 

Bakura lay his head on his knees and remembered the stories...


End file.
